Aamir Khan’s Film Off To A Slow Start, Struggles To Match Laal Singh Chaddha

Aamir Khan is gearing up for his much anticipated return with Sitaare Zameen Par, the spiritual sequel to his 2007 cult classic Taare Zameen Par. The film focuses on specially abled children and features Aamir as a basketball coach. Set to release this Friday, June 20, the film has had a slow start at the box office with underwhelming advance bookings.

According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the film’s advance booking for Day 1 crossed just Rs 1 crore by Thursday morning, merely 24 hours before its theatrical release. This number pales in comparison to Aamir’s previous film Laal Singh Chaddha, which had garnered Rs 5.52 crore in advance bookings, despite its own underwhelming box office run.

The film recently hit an unexpected hurdle ahead of its release where the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) asked for two cuts, which Aamir initially refused to implement, citing the creative integrity of the project. However, the film was officially cleared by the CBFC. Industry insiders point to a delay in CBFC certification as the reason behind the late opening of bookings, which only began late Tuesday night.

Comparatively, the film is trailing behind other 2025 biggies like Jaat which has clocked in over Rs 2.37 crore in advance sales and Kesari Chapter 2, which stands at Rs 1.84 crore. And while Sitaare Zameen Par might overtake these titles with a last minute push, it stands little chance against the advance numbers of Salman Khan’s Sikandar, which soared past Rs 10.09 crore, or Akshay Kumar’s Housefull 5, which opened to an impressive Rs 8.02 crore.

Film trade analyst Atul Mohan remains optimistic. “Aamir Khan’s films, barring Thugs of Hindostan and Dhoom 3, are known to be slow openers, and then build on word of mouth,” he says. “And those two were massy films, which Sitaare Zameen Par is not. So, I still have hope that the film can do well even after a slow start, provided it builds some positive word of mouth.”

Aamir had also declined a massive Rs 120 crore offer from Amazon Prime Video for the film’s OTT rights. According to trade analyst if the film fails to significantly increase footfalls in theatres, Aamir could suffer a loss of Rs 120 crore.

Directed by RS Prasanna, the film also stars Genelia D’Souza and introduces ten first time actors playing specially abled characters and is a remake of the Spanish film Campeones.